Bill To Add Accountability To Border Laptop Search

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) has introduced a bill that would add accountability to the DHS searches conducted upon the laptops of those crossing the border. Specifically, it would require the issue of receipts to those who had their property confiscated so that it could later be returned, would limit how long the DHS can keep laptops, would require them to keep the laptop's information secure, and would create a way to complain about abuse. Finally, the DHS would be required to keep track of how many searches were done and report the details to Congress. Rep. Sanchez also has also issued a statement about the proposed bill."

Comments

US Citizens only

[jevring]

Her suggestion only applies to US citizens, though. What about the rest of us?

Re:US Citizens only

[CaptainZapp]

Great advice, thank you.

I got the message loud and clear in 2002 (that was before the fingerprinting started) and haven't visited the US since (that's after about 20 previous visits, on which I parted with a significant amount of my tourist Euros).

While, depending on the airport, immigration to the US was never fun (hello! Miami) the whole affair got absolutely loathsome after DHS called the shots.

As a matter of fact I even refuse to transfer plains to a third country through the US, since you don't need to collect your bags and go through immigration and customs in transit on just about any European hub.

To conclude: I got the message loud and clear and here's hoping you're having a nice, slightly fascistic police state that makes all of you feel right at home.

Just to be clear: I'm not pissing on USians here. But what this administartion pulled off with a disregard of the most basic human rights (hello Mr. Torture President) is so depicable, that I for one certainly don't want anything of it.

Re:US Citizens only

[compro01]

Most of the major cargo shipping companies also carry passengers.

http://thetravelersnotebook.com/how-to/how-to-travel-by-cargo-ship/

Legislating common sense

[HangingChad]

I must be reading that wrong because it sounds like Congress doing something that makes sense. It's unfortunate that it takes legislation to get DHS to pull their collective head out of their butt. This should never have been a problem that needed solving.

Re:no

[jacquesm]

correct, I already stopped going to the USA for business & pleasure both.

I used to travel there three or four times every year, since Bush has come to power and the US went nuts it declined until a few years ago I stopped going completely after one border harassment incident too many.

The US border guards are on par with some of the worst that I've seen on the east-west German and Polish borders when the Iron Curtain was still firmly in place.

Funny how things come full circle...

Re:its start

[L4t3r4lu5]

Now all they need to do is curb fingerprinting of holiday-makers, pre-boarding name checking against inaccurate and ineffective no-fly blacklists, and the general criminal treatment of anybody without a US passport, currently with little more rights than cattle outside the border, who wants to spend THEIR money on YOUR culture.

I use the term "culture" loosely. (If that gets me a troll mod, so be it.)

Re:What A Sensible Law--Sanchez Is Toast

[pla]

but they want to replace her with somebody who wants to take away their rights rather than limit the government's power?

Nothing tinfoil-hat about it. Most people simply count as idiots and should not have the right to vote.

I can't find the link at the moment, but a few years ago a group of (Stanford?) students caused quite a furor over a mock petition drive to revoke a few dangerous "new" laws "recently" passed - The US Bill of Rights reworded into plain English. They had around a 70% positive response rate (ie, people who supported revoking the Bill of Rights).

Most people don't want freedom. They want TV and McDonalds.

Re:no

[oldspewey]

Ever since people have been treated like criminals upon entering the country I decided I would never go to the US, not even if my job demanded it.

My job does demand it ... and I am increasingly thinking it's time to start looking for new employment.

Re:Woohoo

[Skrynesaver]

That's one that, as an outsider, has always puzzled me. How can a bill be amended to address several unrelated things, I've seen it before in US politics and it's baffling. Surely legislation is supposed to address a specific issue, rather than become a way of slandering each other at election time and further enrich your legal class as they attempt to untangle the relevance from the pork?.

Disclaimers: I an not a US citizen but I'm married to a US citizen living in Europe.
I'm not trying to troll here, this genuinely puzzles me.

Re:no

[jacquesm]

Well, this is only anecdotal evidence, but I've had:

- my shoes confiscated (steel toes)
- my laptop and removable drive booted and searched
- my camera searched (and unfortunately it had a very large flash card in it so that took a while)
- my fingerprint taken as if I'm some common criminal (as opposed to a classy criminal)
- my mugshot taken
- missed my connecting flight

All this in Miami on a fucking stopover for an Amsterdam to Panama City flight, in other words I was not even planning to visit the states on that particular trip

So, that's it for me, no more US of A, I'll see you guys on the flip side of the revolution, if it happens in my lifetime I'll be happy but I'm not holding my breath for it.

If that's the face you want to present to the outside world then I wish you good luck.

For the record, I've been a pretty outspoken critic of the Iraq war, both in private emails as well as in public writings, possibly that reason enough to 'flag' me. Makes you wonder about the kind of society America is becoming.

Re:!common sense. Security Theatre.

[turtleAJ]

WHY are they confiscating the computers in the first place?

Cause they're humans.

Small-note: I have a friend that works for DHS.
I hadn't talked with her in a long time, so when we met-up again, I found out she was working for DHS in the airport.
Obviously, I asked her all sorts of questions.

Her answers were really insightful:
She says that although there are a ton of things that can send out a "flag", they do not normally do that because for each flag, they have to fill out a 3-page 'report'.

So I asked her why the fuck they were such big assholes... and she basically said it's highschool all over.
If they're bored, then they'll stop whomever for whatever fucking reason.
If they have visits from higher-ups, they will also stop whomever for whatever reason.
If one of them is "Super DHS Agent of the Month Tim", then all of them will act "Super DHS Agent" for that day.
If they're having a slow day... or are particularly happy... they just don't care.

She wasn't happy about it... yet, can you blame her?
WTF... it's a job. And if Tim is netting 10 flags per hour (out-of-ass figure), then she should be doing at least 5.

DHS sucks ass. Period.

It's a good thing

[Zancarius]

While some of my conservative peers may disagree as to the utility of the bill, it proposes wide-reaching accountability which can only help us all out.

As a personal anecdote, I travel a lot between two cities in southern New Mexico. Between them is a border patrol point through which I must regularly cross. While most of the border guards are quite friendly and accommodating, I'll occasionally run into a few who are generally in a really foul mood. I've often been asked the usual questions (where are you coming from, where you are going, etc), but from time to time, they've asked me what I'm carrying in my backpack, why I'm carrying it, and so forth. I'm all for discouraging illegal activities, but spending a few minutes answering questions adds up over the course of a month or two! Of course, I don't expect that they'd confiscate my belongings, but I would want some accountability if they did. Since I do need my laptop for working on various things between classes at university, going without it would certainly have real quantifiable repercussions.

I also imagine that most of their questions are directed toward me because I don't look like someone who fits in well in this part of the country--I look European, not Spanish, and most caucasians in this region tend to have darker features, are ranchers (easily identifiable as such), military, or are Germans assigned here with the German air force. As such, I've always figured it was a matter of time until they wind up grabbing a hold of my laptop via random search. Since I write short stories from time to time and have an assortment of partial manuscripts (on an encrypted partition, but who's to say they wouldn't force me to release the password?), I've always been mildly concerned that seizure of my laptop could result in someone who might be less ethical than most obtaining my copyrighted work and illegally distributing it. Yes, I've heard the argument that if I don't want to lose something, don't carry it on my laptop, but that's largely impractical and precisely what encrypting a partition is intended to discourage: petty theft. Thieves who had the means available to break such encryption are probably uninterested in lowly manuscripts and more interested in corporate data or information pertaining to national security. But law enforcement, on the other hand, could potentially force me to divulge such passwords! Perhaps someone who is more familiar with law pertaining to such search and seizures could offer some advice in this particular case.

Considering lost time, productivity, and somewhat valuable materials, it's a bit upsetting that average citizens in this nation have to worry about such ridiculous things. If someone working under law enforcement were to steal data of mine for his or her own benefit, you bet I'd want accountability! I'm sure that sort of accountability does already exist through established channels, but how are you to know that an unscrupulous individual didn't steal something from your computer for his own personal gains (software, mp3s, personal data)? The only downside I see to this bill is that it doesn't highlight an effective method of accountability and detection of theft, such as requiring multiple personnel to be present when examining data to ensure no such theft occurs. That alone could create an additional check and balance within the system.